Opinion

Some local residents are joining together to organize an old-fashioned, family-style fair for Shallotte.

If all goes well, the midway will light up next year on Sept. 9 and attendees will be treated to rides, food, entertainment, business displays, crafters and more through Sept. 12. There will also be a tribute in honor of the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

This event is going to take a lot of hard work and will need significant community support, but we think it will be worth all of the effort.

On Friday, as part of Calabash’s annual Town Hall Day celebration, the community’s many restaurants and the people and families who have made them successful will be honored.

It’s a perfect theme for this year’s event, especially in light of recent struggles faced by the local seafood industry—which contributes to the food on area restaurants’ tables—and the struggling economy that has made doing business a bit more difficult than normal.

A recent editorial regarding the newly established Veterans Outreach clinic in Brunswick County clearly forgot the famous words from the beloved Thanksgiving song that says “Count your blessings; name them one-by-one.”

Indeed, let’s count our blessings and the victories for our veterans:

1) Brunswick County veterans were turned down twice by the VA until our petition was granted in 2004. After several bureaucratic and budgetary delays, our veterans’ concerns were finally heard by the VA in our summit on April 7 in Supply.

In a smart fiscal move, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners has decided to hold off on a possible countywide curbside recycling initiative until next year.

In light of the slow economy and knowing the county has already had to retighten its belt because of budget constraints, this was a wise decision for this fiscal year.However, as Brunswick County continues to grow and its options for traditional landfill locations dwindle, it only makes sense that in the near future officials will have to tackle this endeavor.

Monday night, the North Carolina Senate passed a bill that would outlaw video gaming entertainment.

If the same measure were to be approved by the state House of Representatives, it would essentially force electronic sweepstakes operations, like those which have popped up throughout Brunswick County, out of business.

The decision about whether terminal groins could be a viable option for coastal erosion control is now in the hands of one person, and that’s not how it should be.

According to Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith and Caswell Beach Mayor Harry Simmons, N.C. Speaker of the House Joe Hackney is controlling whether Senate Bill 832 will be heard on the House floor during the General Assembly’s short session.

As our roads begin to feel the increased pressure of summer tourists, the opportunity for incidents increase. We only have to look back a couple of weeks to see tragedies that have happened on our roadways before the onslaught of beachgoers even began.

Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram has said his deputies will be stepping up their emphasis on impaired, aggressive and speeding drivers during the busy summer months.

Carolina Shores residents hoping for open, transparent government are going to be disappointed.

Again.

On May 3, the town board met in closed session to discuss personnel issues. When the board moved into open session, it approved having town attorney Holt Moore send a “personnel letter” to an employee. It did not indicate who the employee was or what action was taken.

During the May primary election season, two of the more-heated and more-interesting races were for Brunswick County Sheriff and the district attorney that serves our county.

In the Republican race for sheriff, current sheriff John Ingram was challenged by North Carolina Highway Patrol Sgt. Tim Daniels. Ingram defeated Daniels to be the Republican sheriff candidate in November.

On the Democratic side, it was the race of the Lewises as Rendy Lewis challenged and ultimately defeated Louie Lewis for the Democratic spot on the November General Election ballot.

In light of a struggling economy, the reality is tough decisions are going to have to be made when local government officials put together budgets for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners got a taste of that recently when it had its budget workshops. Officials looked at a number of ways to generate new and increased revenue and also explored possible cuts and decreases.

The Brunswick County Board of Education had a great opportunity to start anew with the hiring of a new superintendent last week, and yet somehow the announcement got flubbed up.

When the community should have been celebrating and welcoming the district’s new leadership with Dr. Edward Pruden, there was dissent among the board.

In a prepared statement, board member Scott Milligan said he was voting against the hiring of Pruden, not because of Pruden’s candidacy, but because of what he believed were some shady actions of some board members.

Veterans Affairs officials have really missed the boat on a grand opportunity right here in Brunswick County, and unfortunately it appears it is going to come at the expense of taxpayers.

The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners has practically thrown the current Brunswick Community Hospital location at VA officials. County officials have offered to make VA officials a deal they couldn’t refuse for a new VA facility.

In a close vote last week, the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) voted 8-5 to recommend to the state General Assembly that the use of terminal groins could be feasible when used in conjunction with beach renourishment.

That’s a step in the right direction for officials who have been pushing for terminal groins, like Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith.

Now, the decision about whether terminal groins will become a possibility goes to the General Assembly.